I need feedback and suggestions, or corrections if needed, on my treatment plan for this fish.
Wednesday afternoon, when I was about to do a water change, I noticed my Brochis on the bottom of the tank, breathing fast and listing to one side a little. I used a clear two cup measuring cup to gently scoop him out.
Looking closely at him I could see deep red coloration beneath the skin where the pectoral fins attach to his body. I saw that he also had the same deep red coloration at the base of the dorsal fin, full length along his back.
I held the cup up to look at his body through the clear glass and could see that his vent and the area around it was very red. His left side just behind his gills had a deep red blotch and there was a tiny tread-like streak extending from that blotch along his side.
My parameters have been closely monitored. I do water changes every four to five days. About 60% each time, along with vacuuming the gravel.
At the time that I discovered the problem I did detect the slightest tinge of lavender in the vial when I tested for nitrites. It would have to be around .125 nitrites at the most.
Last week I did have a minicycle, I think, but stayed vigilent with water changes.
The other params at the time I discovered the sick Brochis:
ammonia 0, nitrates 20, ph 7, temp 78.5
Ten gallon, HOB filter, heater, some plants that snoopy65 sent me to help with nitrates. I have been having a problem with nitrates and I have done water changes to handle that, but a couple of times the nitrates were in the 60s or maybe as high as 80. Since I got the plants nitrates have been under control.
When I found my sick Brochis I wanted to come get help and support from you guys but I wasn't able to. Thank goodness I've gotten some good training from AC members that helped me not totally freak out, lol.
I wasn't able to go online because Tuesday my hard drive on my laptop "ceased to be" and I"m waiting for Dell to send the technician with the part. I'm borrowing a computer to do this thread and check emails, etc.
The fish has no external defects at all, no ulcers, no patchy lesions, no specks, no fuzz, nor any other external sign or symptom. My diagnosis, without the consultaton of the real fish experts on AC, was some kind of internal bacterial infection, most likely already septicemia.
There is no sign of dropsy so maybe I caught it in time.
I thought treatment with a broad spectrum antibiotic, along with pristine water would be what he needed.
I immediately set up my hospital tank, a five gallon Eclipse minibow with a Whisper HOB filter. I had an extra heater, air compressor and bubble wand. I treated the water with Prime; made sure the temp was same as the tank water the fish had been in, and then put him in the tank.
He went in the tank around 1:30pm Wednesday. I had to rush out to work and planned to go get antibiotics after work.
I ran to Petsmart, after work, and got Maracyn and Maracyn II and an internal antibiotic fish food by Jungle. I bought a little resin rock formation for him to hide in and had a fake plant to put in with him.
I dosed him Wednesday evening with a dose of Maracyn and Maracyn II.
The next morning, Thursday, around 11AM I did an 80% water change and dosed him with the meds again. I dropped the food in there but he wasn't eating any of it. Still listless and sitting on the bottom of the tank zoned out.
The first twenty-four hours in the hospital he was very listless, just no movement at all except his gills.
Thursday evening he was swimming a bit and the color was looking less red. The redness at the base of the dorsal fin was gone, but there was still the red splotch and redness at his pectoral fin/body area. I think the thead-like line has diminished a good bit. I haven't been able to check his vent.
This morning around 10am I did another 80% water change and I dosed him again. When I came in from work he looks better. He's actually swimming around quite a bit; up and down the glass like he's trying to find some algae. He doesn't seem to have eaten any of the medicated food so I put a piece of algae wafer in there with him.
I was wondering if dosing after the water change and then waiting twenty-four hours to change the water is OK, or should I change the water sooner?
The Whisper filter doesn't have a sponge or piece of foam to filter particulates, but I knew he needed the water flowing into the tank to help with O2. The HOB came with those filters that are full of carbon so I know I can't use those.
I did have an old biofilter that had gotten so gunked up with algae that I had bleached it and saved it and it was in my box of stuff, so I lay it across the outlet for the water to flow through. It's too small to stick down into the filter.
Is there anything else I should do. I wish I had taken pics of him but at the time my camera battey needed charging and I was on a time crunch to get to work, too.
Wednesday afternoon, when I was about to do a water change, I noticed my Brochis on the bottom of the tank, breathing fast and listing to one side a little. I used a clear two cup measuring cup to gently scoop him out.
Looking closely at him I could see deep red coloration beneath the skin where the pectoral fins attach to his body. I saw that he also had the same deep red coloration at the base of the dorsal fin, full length along his back.
I held the cup up to look at his body through the clear glass and could see that his vent and the area around it was very red. His left side just behind his gills had a deep red blotch and there was a tiny tread-like streak extending from that blotch along his side.
My parameters have been closely monitored. I do water changes every four to five days. About 60% each time, along with vacuuming the gravel.
At the time that I discovered the problem I did detect the slightest tinge of lavender in the vial when I tested for nitrites. It would have to be around .125 nitrites at the most.
Last week I did have a minicycle, I think, but stayed vigilent with water changes.
The other params at the time I discovered the sick Brochis:
ammonia 0, nitrates 20, ph 7, temp 78.5
Ten gallon, HOB filter, heater, some plants that snoopy65 sent me to help with nitrates. I have been having a problem with nitrates and I have done water changes to handle that, but a couple of times the nitrates were in the 60s or maybe as high as 80. Since I got the plants nitrates have been under control.
When I found my sick Brochis I wanted to come get help and support from you guys but I wasn't able to. Thank goodness I've gotten some good training from AC members that helped me not totally freak out, lol.
I wasn't able to go online because Tuesday my hard drive on my laptop "ceased to be" and I"m waiting for Dell to send the technician with the part. I'm borrowing a computer to do this thread and check emails, etc.
The fish has no external defects at all, no ulcers, no patchy lesions, no specks, no fuzz, nor any other external sign or symptom. My diagnosis, without the consultaton of the real fish experts on AC, was some kind of internal bacterial infection, most likely already septicemia.
There is no sign of dropsy so maybe I caught it in time.
I thought treatment with a broad spectrum antibiotic, along with pristine water would be what he needed.
I immediately set up my hospital tank, a five gallon Eclipse minibow with a Whisper HOB filter. I had an extra heater, air compressor and bubble wand. I treated the water with Prime; made sure the temp was same as the tank water the fish had been in, and then put him in the tank.
He went in the tank around 1:30pm Wednesday. I had to rush out to work and planned to go get antibiotics after work.
I ran to Petsmart, after work, and got Maracyn and Maracyn II and an internal antibiotic fish food by Jungle. I bought a little resin rock formation for him to hide in and had a fake plant to put in with him.
I dosed him Wednesday evening with a dose of Maracyn and Maracyn II.
The next morning, Thursday, around 11AM I did an 80% water change and dosed him with the meds again. I dropped the food in there but he wasn't eating any of it. Still listless and sitting on the bottom of the tank zoned out.
The first twenty-four hours in the hospital he was very listless, just no movement at all except his gills.
Thursday evening he was swimming a bit and the color was looking less red. The redness at the base of the dorsal fin was gone, but there was still the red splotch and redness at his pectoral fin/body area. I think the thead-like line has diminished a good bit. I haven't been able to check his vent.
This morning around 10am I did another 80% water change and I dosed him again. When I came in from work he looks better. He's actually swimming around quite a bit; up and down the glass like he's trying to find some algae. He doesn't seem to have eaten any of the medicated food so I put a piece of algae wafer in there with him.
I was wondering if dosing after the water change and then waiting twenty-four hours to change the water is OK, or should I change the water sooner?
The Whisper filter doesn't have a sponge or piece of foam to filter particulates, but I knew he needed the water flowing into the tank to help with O2. The HOB came with those filters that are full of carbon so I know I can't use those.
I did have an old biofilter that had gotten so gunked up with algae that I had bleached it and saved it and it was in my box of stuff, so I lay it across the outlet for the water to flow through. It's too small to stick down into the filter.
Is there anything else I should do. I wish I had taken pics of him but at the time my camera battey needed charging and I was on a time crunch to get to work, too.
Any updates?